Prince of the Afterlife
by Gravvle
Summary: When a young boy from a dying world sets out, and finds himself as a new person, what will happen to him? On his quest to find his purpose, who will he meet? And who will try to confront him? please enjoy  XD
1. Chapter 1

**Prince of the Afterlife**

Once upon a time, there lived a happy, little family. This family lived on the outskirts of a town called Hanacho. The family consisted of a generous father, a caring mother, an over-achieving sister, and a small boy. The family lived in a normal house, and they had a pet piglet named after the sister's favorite pop singer, Ayumi Hamasaki. The family was preparing for a big day—the little boy's eleventh birthday.

The boy's name was Hikaru Yokoshima, and he was in his fifth year of school. He had a mop of shaggy black hair on top of his head, and big, round eyes. The boy's best friend was a beat-up teddy bear named Mr. Bear. He carried around his best friend where ever he went, only departing his furry friend's side when it was time for school.

"Onee-san? Onee-san, where are you?" I call out as I drag Mr. Bear around behind me. My older sister, Yuurie Yokoshima, walked out from the kitchen doorway, gulping down a glass of milk.

"What is it, Hikaru? If you don't mind, I'm fairly busy." I glared at her. Even though she was four years my elder, I knew full well that she was lying to me. She probably had the telephone hidden somewhere behind her back, and thought of me as too annoying to bother with. I loved having a sister like her, for the sole reason of sibling rivalry. But, tomorrow was my birthday, so she would have to be nice to me at least for one day of the year. I smiled at her, and she sneered at me. "Ew, what's wrong with your face Hikaru?!" She walked off, putting the phone to her ear, and I grinned.

I stared into the blank face of Mr. Bear. He had lost an eye somehow, so I had replaced it with a shiny, black button. He stared back into my face.

"Gee Mr. Bear; I'm so glad that I have someone like you for a friend. What would happen to me if I didn't?! How would I ever deal with her if I didn't have you?" I smiled into his black eyes, and he returned my gaze. He always did. He was my best friend in all of Japan—maybe the entire world!

The next day, I woke up as soon as the sun was up. I rushed out of my bedroom with Mr. Bear, and ran to my parents' room. "Mama! Mama, Daddy! Wake up! Guess what day it is today!!" I hop onto the end of the bed as they begin to stir. They looked at the disturbance that awoke them, and laughed softly.

"Well good morning to you too, Hikaru," mom smiled sweetly, and sat herself upright, "Isn't this the birthday boy, honey?" She smiled at Daddy. He smiled back and ruffled my hair.

"Happy birthday, son. Why don't we go downstairs and make some breakfast?" my eyes widened. My Daddy made the best breakfast ever—or at least I thought so. I rushed downstairs, with them close behind me. Yuurie was already wide awake, and she was watching the latest Ayumi Hamasaki video on the music channel.

"Happy birthday, brat," she called to me as she heard me rush by. I ignored the 'brat' comment, and continued to the kitchen. Our breakfast consisted of eggs, bacon, toast, and orange juice. I shoveled the breakfast into my mouth, and washed it down with my orange juice. I was satisfied. Mr. Bear and I flew out of the kitchen and into the backyard to play. I laughed to myself as Mr. Bear and I kicked around the soccer ball.

The events of the day still are vivid in my mind: the birthday party, the cake, the presents, grandma and grandpa coming to visit! I had at least fifteen of my friends over, it was so much fun! But, not all of the day's events were fun. You see, after my friends had left, and I had said my final farewells to grandma and grandpa, I had scampered off to the front yard with Mr. Bear. It was mid-autumn, and all of the trees aligning our street were orange and red. When the orangey-toned light of a sunset hit the trees, it made the street seem as though it was on fire. I loved it. Our street was full of friendly people, and most of the houses were the same: 2-story houses, a family sedan in the driveway, a tree or two in the front yard, but a small front yard. I sat down in a pile of leaves that my Daddy raked up early this morning, and I tossed Mr. Bear high up into the air. I caught him, and he smiled at me. "Mr. Bear? Do you want to play airplane?" I giggled softly, and smiled into Mr. Bears face.

_ "Yes, Hikki-san, I love playing airplane with you!"_ The voice of Mr. Bear rang clear like a bell in Hikaru's mind. I giggled again. I hugged Mr. Bear tightly, and tossed him into the air. Just as Mr. Bear hit the peak height of his flight, the street racer of the notorious gang, the Boxcars. The Boxcars had been terrorizing the streets of Hanacho for the past four months, and it had affected the whole town. Their rival gang had gone into hiding after losing a rather large gang battle with the Boxcars. The Boxcars had been going around neighborhoods doing drive-bys to try to find their rivals. It just so happens that I was playing outside as a horrific drive-by played out on my street. Mr. Bear soared high into the air, and the car screeched by. Several loud gunshots rang out, like angered crows calling out their turfs. I looked towards the street, eyes widened, and stricken with fear. Several bullets shot out from the barrel of the gun resting on the car door, and flew across the tarmac. I shook my head, and stumbled to my feet. The bullets shot at me in slow motion, but seemed to be jets flying at me.

I blinked, and turned on my heels. My brain told my feet to run, but they wouldn't. Something seemed to be preventing me from running. I closed my eyes for a brief second, and everything turned black. The bullets tore through my flesh, and I let out a cry of pain. The pupils in my eyes got smaller and smaller, and then completely closed up. I coughed in pain, and a small bubble of blood enveloped the inside of my mouth. Mr. Bear fell onto the leaf pile beside me, and I heard a faint scream inside of my head. It grew dimmer and dimmer, and the light from my life faded away…

Chapter 1—


	2. Chapter 2

Background Music: Jin Sha – Ben Dan

The sky was a beautiful shade of magenta. The short, slim-figured girl brushed her vibrant orange hair out of her eyes. She let a small smile creep across her face. A near-by tree let go of a few of its leaves, and they flew into the girl's face. She waved them off, and shoved her face into her stuffed friend. Her stuffed animal was a light tanned colored pony, about a foot high, with a large, pink satin bow tied around its neck. She had named him Shu-Shu, and it had an air of mystique about it. She squeezed the animal, and blushed slightly. She was standing in a beautifully flowered meadow, with butterfly's fluttering about. Her long, pointed ears twitched—there was a shuffling in the long grass behind her. She clutched her pony, and closed her eyes tightly. She listened harder, waiting for something to pounce. A small creature hopped up to her leg, and tugged on her white fur boots.

"Kitchimare? What are you doing out here?" The girl's eyes widened.

"Oh, Shippo! It's just you, I thought you might have been some demon." Her blue eyes seemed to sigh. He smiled at her, and scampered off somewhere behind her. His high-pitched voice rang out, yelling out the name 'Inuyasha' several times.

"Inuyasha, I found Kitchimare!! She was just over here in the—" The young fox demon stopped dead in his tracks. A large, ominous shadow loomed over him, and he stared at it, as it stretched far in front of him. His teeth started chattering, and he slowly spun around on his heel. As he looked at the creator of the large shadow, he could hear a low growling sound. He knew exactly from where the noise was coming from. "Inu…yasha..?" His high-pitched voice quivered.

"Shippo!! I thought I told you," the snarling voice of Inuyasha rang out, "don't use my name so lightly!!!" Kitchimare giggled, and hugged her pony tighter. She had met up with the half demon, Inuyasha, several weeks ago, and had been traveling with him and Shippo ever since. The pair had been separated from their group of friends, and was still trying to search for them, as well as the Shikon Jewel shards. Kitchimare had offered to help them, as she was searching for someone as well.

"Kitchimare, Inuyasha made me cry!!" Tears built up in the fox demons eyes, and Kitchimare hugged Shippo. In the absence of theirs friends, they had lost Kagome, who helped Shippo when Inuyasha was picking on him. So, Kitchimare tried to fill in the role as best she could.

"Well, I told you not to go around shouting my name everywhere! We aren't at some festival you know! There are demons everywhere! They wont hesitate to eat you up you know," said Inuyasha almost in a cocky manner, "they would probably love to eat a small, plump, fluffy little demon like—" Inuyasha stopped. He looked just a small ways above Kitchimare's head, and stared in the distant sky. His eyes widened. He was staring at a rare sight, hardly ever seen anymore, a shooting star.

"Inuyasha, what's the matter? What are you looking at?" Kitchimare stood beside Inuyasha, and followed his gaze, "wow, it's so pretty! But why is it lasting this long?"

The trio stood there, mesmerized at the site of the everlasting shooting star. Little did they know that only several miles away, there was a site completely alien to this world. The brilliant, white streak that was slowly creeping across the sky was, in fact, a body. It was the body of a young boy, whose life had been slowly slipping away.

My eyes shot open by some invisible force. Where was I? That's all I remember thinking. My body was enveloped in a large, glowing white cloud of dust, and the winds around me felt as though they would tear me to shreds. I crossed my arms, in front of my face, to shield from the razor winds.

"What just happened? I thought I was shot," I murmured to myself. I had no clue what was happening. It appeared as though I was thousands of feet above any land, and it was dusk. I looked around myself in a panic, but to no avail. I could see nothing, and it didn't appear to be a dream. I closed my eyes as tight as I could, and hoped for the madness to be over. My fair skin started to glow, as did my clothes, and my clothes suddenly ripped off of my body. I hadn't even noticed until I felt a sudden burst of cold air against my skin.

"I'm, I'm naked?!" I shrieked in panic. I tried to cover myself up, so that no one could see me. But when I looked down, It was not skin that I saw, but strange garments. I was now wearing a strange, ancient looking pair of black kung-fu slippers, strange loose black pants, and a violet, hooded belly top. I felt something flying behind me, and I looked back. It was a long, black scarf, and an even longer violet cape-like thing (which turned out to actually be part of my shirt). I was totally baffled. Fingerless, black gloves materialized on my hands, and I freaked out.

"What's happening to me?!" my eyes widened with fear as the wind whipped past my body. Something fell into my eye. It was a shaggy strand of crimson hair.

"Red hair?! My hair is turning red?! What is going on?!" my voice faded into the wind, and I descended faster and faster towards the ground. Suddenly, a strange, sinister design coiled its way around, and up my arm, onto my back. It began to glow a faint, whitish-green light. The light became blindingly bright. As fast as it appeared, it was gone. What was left behind was what looked like the stenciled outline of a long, elegant dragon. The tattoo had a sinister sense to it, and it almost seemed alive.

The wind became colder, and started to rush at me at an impeccable speed. The cold began to numb my body.

"Aw, silly fingers, don't fall asleep on me…ah, that light looks—" My head dropped. My eyes became but small slits, and I slowly drifted out of consciousness.

The trio stared off, watching the blissful comet reach the end of its journey. The tall half-demon, and the slim demon girl turned around, and began to walk away.

"C'mon Shippo, the sun has already set. You know that the more dangerous demons come out during the darker hours. Unless you want to be eaten, we better get a move on," set Inuyasha bluntly. He and Kitchimare walked slowly side-by-side as the small fox demon stood there, mesmerized.

"Master Shippo? Master Shi—" the girl's voice trailed off as she turned around to look at Shippo. Her eyes widened in horror. "Master Shippo, what _is_ that?! That isn't the beautiful shooting star from before, is it?" Inuyasha stopped, and slowly pivoted on his feet. His narrow eyes looked at the darkened sky, and suddenly shot open.

"Shippo, you take Kitchimare, and follow behind me. Usually, I'd tell you to go somewhere 'safe', but at this hour, there really isn't one. So stay by my side, and follow my lead," Inuyasha was suddenly very serious. He put his right hand on the hilt of his blade, Tetsaiga. He started dashing towards the distant falling star.

"Kitchimare, wait just a second. You can ride on me," said the small fox demon, with a large smile on his face, "okay, Fox Magic! Transform!" A large cloud of white smoke erupted from out of no where, and the small fox demon was gone. Instead stood an awkward looking, giant hawk, with googley-looking eyes. The small girl looked startled, but hopped onto the _things_ back none the less. The newly transformed hawk began to flap its wings, and it flew off, following the half-demon, Inuyasha.


End file.
